Cash for Kim: North Korean Forced Laborers in Poland

Existence of North Korean forced labors in the center of the European Union seems unbelievable. However, the evidences found by a VICE investigation has revealed the truth of the existence of North Korean forced labors and their working conditions in Poland, while their salaries funding the DPRK government.

The death of a North Korean labor, working as a welder at a shipyard in Gdansk, became stimulus of investigations. VICE got access to private documents such as service contracts, persons’ registers, payment records, passport copies, and some sections of a population register smuggled out of North Korea, which indicated that a high ranking North Korean military member was running a Polish company.

In the following documentary, the heart of investigation is three Polish companies and Rungrado (Korea Rungrado General Trading Corporation) is the heart of investigation. VICE discovered that two of those three Polish companies were involved in the supply of North Korean workers to two major shipyards, which repair and construct ships for customers crosswise the European Union (EU).